Autophagy News and Research

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Autophagy is a normal process in which a cell destroys proteins and other substances in its cytoplasm (the fluid inside the cell membrane but outside the nucleus), which may lead to cell death. Autophagy may prevent normal cells from developing into cancer cells, but it may also protect cancer cells by destroying anticancer drugs or substances taken up by them.

Innovative delivery systems and methods to treat breast cancer

In their lifetime, women have more than a 12 percent risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer. 1 This week, research on novel approaches to breast cancer treatment is being presented at the Era of Hope (EOH) conference, a scientific meeting hosted by the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP).

4 Aug 2011

Autophagy research offers clues to new weight loss treatment

According to a new study when the body is starved brain cells along with other parts of the body begin to eat themselves. The body responds by producing fatty acids, which turn up the hunger signal in the brain and increase the impulse to eat.

3 Aug 2011

Azithromycin may predispose cystic fibrosis patients to mycobacterial infection

Azithromycin is an antibiotic that also has antiinflammatory properties. It is these antiinflammatory properties that are thought to account for the improvement in clinical outcome observed when patients with chronic lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis are treated long-term with azithromycin.

2 Aug 2011

Scientists identify new metabolic pathway for breast cancer

Agios Pharmaceuticals, the leading biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing novel drugs in the rapidly emerging field of cancer metabolism, announced today a publication in the journal Nature that identifies dysregulated activity of the serine pathway as a novel metabolic target in certain breast cancers.

15 Jul 2011

Intravenous nutrition does not have a positive effect if administered early

Critically ill patients receive intravenous nutrition - via an infusion in a large vein - when nutrition via a stomach or intestinal tube is insufficient. There is international dispute over the correct timing of intravenous nutrition: European guidelines recommend administering intravenous nutrition within 48 hours to prevent malnutrition.

1 Jul 2011

Nine young clinical investigators earn recognition from Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation named five new Damon Runyon Clinical Investigators at its spring 2011 Clinical Investigator Award Committee review.

22 Jun 2011

Scientists create first roadmap to understand estrogen signaling in breast cancer cells

The first roadmap to mathematical modeling of a powerful basic "decision circuit" in breast cancer has been developed and published in Nature Reviews Cancer.

18 Jun 2011

Cancer drug helps prevent hypertensive heart disease

A promising cancer treatment drug can restore function of a heart en route to failure from high blood pressure, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

31 May 2011

Molecular mechanism of selected autophagy elucidated

Salmonella is widely prevalent in the animal kingdom. The reason we do not suffer from severe intestinal infections very often is due to our body's defence system, which manages to digest invading bacteria. This is why, generally speaking, a healthy human being will only fall ill if he consumes more than 100.000 salmonella bacteria via a contaminated food source, such as eggs or meat.

27 May 2011

Lactate shuttle also exists in human tumors

Researchers at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson have shed new light on the longstanding conundrum about what makes a tumor grow-and how to make it stop. Interestingly, cancer cells accelerate the aging of nearby connective tissue cells to cause inflammation, which ultimately provides "fuel" for the tumor to grow and even metastasize.

27 May 2011

Leucine deprivation triggers apoptosis in melanoma cells

Whitehead Institute researchers have found that depriving human melanoma cells of the essential amino acid leucine can be lethal to the cells, suggesting a possible strategy for therapeutic intervention.

18 May 2011

AGA's cutting-edge research on GI disorders to be presented at DDW 2011

Clinicians, researchers and scientists from around the world will gather for Digestive Disease Week- 2011, the largest and most prestigious gastroenterology meeting, from May 7-10, 2011, at McCormick Place, Chicago, IL.

7 May 2011

Scientists identify biochemical abnormality behind Machado-Joseph disease

Scientists in Portugal have identified a biochemical abnormality behind the potentially fatal neurodegenerative Machado-Joseph disease and using several models of the disease were able to reverse the problem in what can be a crucial step towards a cure for humans .

2 May 2011

New insight into acute pancreatitis

Timing is everything. That's especially true when it comes to the activation of enzymes created by the pancreas to break down food. When the timing is right, those enzymes are activated only when they reach the gut, where they get to work releasing and distributing nutrients that we need to survive.

8 Apr 2011

Pitt, UPCI researchers' cancer studies presented at AACR meeting

How do certain multiple myeloma treatment drugs cause complications? How does the immune system become dysfunctional due to cancer? How safe is a vaccine that could prevent development of precancerous colon polyps? Those are among the many questions that will be answered by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine during the American Association for Cancer Research 102nd Annual Meeting 2011, April 2 to 6, in Orlando, Fla.

7 Apr 2011

Breast cancer symposium to discuss on latest advances in research and treatment

The latest advances in both breast cancer treatment and research - including innovations in diagnostic, surgical, chemotherapy and radiation approaches - will be discussed Friday, April 8, 2011, at a breast cancer symposium at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson in Philadelphia.

7 Apr 2011

Under stressful conditions, presence of high levels of HER2 protein causes a decrease in autophagy

Research from The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) on biological pathways that govern progression and treatment responsiveness of HER2 positive breast cancer is being presented at the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) being held in Orlando this week. CINJ is a Center of Excellence of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

6 Apr 2011

Combination of molecularly targeted cancer drug and anti-malarial drug stops tumor growth

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine may have found a way to turn an adaptive cellular response into a liability for cancer cells. When normal cells are starved for food, they chew up existing proteins and membranes to stay alive. Cancer cells have corrupted that process, called autophagy, using it to survive when they run out of nutrients and to evade death after damage from chemotherapy and other sources.

6 Apr 2011

Scientists uncover SREBP-2 role in autophagy and cholesterol generation

Not all cholesterol is bad. Every cell requires it for growth - they either have to get cholesterol somewhere or they die. In a new study published April 6 in the journal Cell Metabolism, researchers from Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute and their collaborators found that a protein sensor known to balance cholesterol sources can also access a previously underappreciated cellular fat storage depot.

6 Apr 2011

OncoGenex presents OGX-427 preclinical data in prostrate cancer at AACR meeting

OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that preclinical data utilizing their pipeline compound OGX-427 was presented at the AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011.

5 Apr 2011